Scout Sniper 11384EB
by HenryCWarmoth18
Summary: A scout sniper stationed on the forest moon of Endor witnesses the destruction of the second Death Star and finds himself in an interesting situation. Star Wars is the property of Lucasfilm and Disney. I am writing only as a fan and not attempting to profit from this story.
1. Chapter 1

Scout Sniper 11384EB

I was stationed on the forest moon of Endor as a member of the detail assigned to defend the Death Star shield generator. We had been planet side for months which gave us and the indigenous species of fuzz balls a chance to observe each other. At first we thought they were harmless so we shooed them away. They didn't understand us at first, so with a few shots from a blaster rifle into the air, the message cleared up and the fuzz balls started to clear out.

We needed room on the forest floor to build our landing pad, base and of course the shield generator itself and the bunkers where its power sources and controls were housed. When our AT-ST walkers positioned themselves around a block of the forest and started burning and cutting down trees, the annoying creatures returned, in a protesting mood to our action. It was clear they didn't want us to cut down any more trees and were very determined to stop us. The stupid fur balls were slowing down progress so we vaporized one or two of them to send them scurrying away back among the trees. From then on, they stayed out of our way, but whatever we did, we could feel their eyes watching us from the bushes and leaves.

I am trained as a sniper and work best from high altitudes. I prepared my climbing gear and made my way up into one of the tall trees which litter the forest floor. Once I found a suitable height, I began the task of making myself a little platform from which I could lie down and shoot. I have to admit, I'm a little proud of myself for the platform I made. It was on par with the walkways made by the indigenous creatures as I would later learn. I made a little ring around the tree with a small panel I could remove to allow myself to climb up to it from the side of the tree. My spot was pretty remote in the forest. I preferred it this way. I work best with few distractions and other people, especially the common Stormtrooper or the pretentious officer fresh from the academy provide distractions by the freighter full.

I knew that if I was to be of any use to the Emperor, who I heard was coming to the Death Star orbiting above me in a month or two, then I would have to be able to spot and hit targets through all the trees. The trees themselves were less of a problem to me. My rifle could rip right through most of them. Only the thicker trees would present a problem in shooting through. Finding targets would be a challenge though. I had to use a heat sensitive scope so that I could identify targets through the vegetation of the forest, but the trees were so thick that the scope helped only with locating targets between the woods. Off to the East, was the back entrance bunker. South of me, lay what must have been a fuzz ball village because any of them that I saw from my post, I saw coming from that direction. When I discovered this, I decided that my location was a perfect one for sniping. I had a clear view of the forest between our units and the local fuzz ball village and could cover it for miles.

So I made myself comfortable and set to the task of programing my scope to only show me the heat signals of species I wanted to see. I started by finding some of the fuzz balls roaming around and marking them in the system archive. From then on, they would always register and show in my reticle as "fuzz ball". Then I found some fellow Imperials and verified that they registered as "human" and showed heat signals when viewed in the scope. I went ahead and tagged them as "ally" by the shapes of their armor. My next task was to mark all the non-intelligent creatures to not show heat signals. This task took me a few days. Marking these targets included all birds that flew below the tree tops, all tree climbing creatures that were non-threatening, and all ground animals in the same category. Naturally, I marked the life threatening species to show up when viewed so that I could defend myself if needed.

Finally, the job was finished. I had made my archive as complete as I could and managed to observe some unusual activity among the fuzz ball population. When we had first arrived, they had simply avoided us when we made our intentions clear, then they watched us suspiciously. Now I noted them taking logs from some of the woods we had cleared and relocating them deeper into the forest. They took some of the smaller ones and stacked them neatly atop some hills among the trees. I thought this was curious, but assumed they had to build homes from something and maybe planned to use this lumber as construction materials. I also noticed them taking two larger logs and working in a large number to hoist these fallen trees up among the leaves. Then with a little more effort, the logs were pulled away from each other and suspended in place. With some little effort, the logs could be swung back down above the forest floor, and they practiced this a few times for whatever reason.

I also noted to myself that the creatures were producing more weapons and carrying more stones than I had seen them do before. When we first arrived, a few of the little monsters used simple spears, clubs and hatchets for hunting, but now it seemed as though they were preparing to arm an army. They also formed these rudimentary devices with small branches that could hurl stones through the air. All this activity fascinated me as I sat quietly on my small post among the trees.


	2. Chapter 2

I had taken up the habit of staying overnight at my post and only came down every few days to walk back to the bunker to clean up and obtain a few supplies to get me through a few more days. Then one day, a few of the fuzz balls started throwing rocks at the bunker door. He was scared away by blaster fire but the incident caused us to begin posting a few scouts in the forest and by the bunker entrance. Then things returned to the peacefulness of before. The monstrosities stopped their busy work in the forest, presumably satisfied with their efforts, and all began to appear less frequently in the section I covered.

One day, I saw an AT-AT lumbering by a few miles away with AT-ST's at its sides. I marked the heat signatures from their engines in my scope and programed the system to outline the entire vehicle when engines like theirs were detected again. Seeing the massive four legged machine again reminded me of my home on Sullust. We saw the large walkers and all kinds of Imperial machinery produced there. We also saw propaganda on a dizzying scale. My mother was a keen woman and I must have picked up this trait from her because I saw through all the lies and saw the Empire for what it really was. Its armies weren't glorious. Armies never are. The parts they try to make look the best are the worst jobs to have and the divisions barely mentioned were the ones hardly needed or were filled to capacity.

Since my home world had been ruled by the Empire for as long as I can remember and longer, our people were given the opportunity to "volunteer" to fight in the Emperor's military, or take up a job at one of the factories. My father worked hard in a factory and when I was old enough, I took a job there too. This gave me a chance to practice my skills with a rifle and develop a mind of my own when I wasn't working. I became talented with a blaster and smart enough to select targets and think ahead, so when I applied to join the Imperial forces, I joined the sniper division. A few weeks of training and tests were all it took for me to secure a position as a sniper near the top of the list of talented soldiers. When the time came, I showed my skills on a few assignments, then found myself on my way to that forest moon to defend a shield generator that would defend the Emperor himself.


	3. Chapter 3

One day, a report came in that a division of the Emperor's finest men was coming with the specific task of capturing a rebel team sent to the moon. That meant that the rebels must be on their way to the moon or were already there. Naturally, I stocked up on supplies and headed out to my post in the trees to monitor movement in the forest. That evening, as I was watching from my spot in the trees, I saw a group of people moving through the forest floor, wearing camo. They had two droids in their company and a wookie. Who would bring a wookie to a place with enough fur balls running around already? The party was several miles away from me and I watched as they encountered a pair of fellow scouts on patrol. The scouts were alerted to their presence and a fight broke out between one of them as the other made off on his speeder bike to get help. It was clear at this point that the entire party was made up of rebel scum, as two of them climbed onto a speeder bike together and chased after the fleeing scout.

The chase passed by two other scouts who took up the chase of the rebels. One of the scum took the bike of another scout and flung him from his bike into a passing tree during the chase. Then he dropped back to assault the two who had been chasing them. The other rebel stayed in pursuit of the bike ahead. The group sped closer to my tree by the minute and then passed me and turned off to the left. The rebels became separated as the one fell from her speeder bike onto the forest floor. Her pursuer unfortunately crashed into a fallen tree. The fall must have been a rough one, because she lay on the ground for several minutes afterwards.

The other rebel however was still locked in a race with a scout soldier. Their speeder bikes apparently stuck to each other and the rebel jumped from his just before it crashed into a tree ahead. The scout cleared the tree and looped around to finish the job. Then to my surprise, the rebel drew a lightsaber and blocked three shots from the bike before he lobbed off the bike's front end, causing it to spiral into a tree. The rebel, who I had then confirmed as Luke Skywalker, turned and began to walk back to his companions. He reunited with them after about an hour's long trek. The party must have decided to search for their friend and split up with Skywalker, the wookie, one man, and the droids heading in the direction of the woman.

I turned my scope back to her and watched as a fuzz ball approached her with a spear. I laughed internally thinking the fuzz ball was about to eliminate her, but instead, he woke her and they began a little exchange. I watched and turned off my thermal scope and realized that the woman was none other than Leia Organa. Part of being a successful sniper is knowing when to fire and when to wait. This was one time where I should wait. If she should be captured because of my actions, the Emperor might make me an admiral. Then I spotted one of the scouts who was knocked from his bike working his way through the forest towards her and the fuzz ball. He was heading in the right direction and if he got there in time he could capture her. I turned my attention back to Organa and her new friend. The fuzz ball had jump up and was looking around suspiciously. He must have smelled or heard the scout moving through the woods. I could have ended them both, but decided that Organa was worth more to Lord Vader alive. So I lined up a shot and fired at the log they were sitting on.

Both Organa and the fuzz ball rolled off the log and took cover behind it. She raised her head over the edge of the log and peered through the tree towards me. It was almost as if she could see me, but I knew that was impossible. I was at least five miles from her. There were still a few seconds before my comrade got to them, so I fired another shot at the log. They both hid again from my fire right as the scout got to them. He held them at gun point and confiscated her pistol. Another scout arrived on his speeder and the soldier who captured Organa ordered him to go get more men. The fuzz ball must have distracted the scout and gave Organa a chance to attack him and retrieve her weapon. She then blasted the scout trying to get away on his bike, causing an explosion. The fire disrupted my heat scope and I couldn't make out much for a few minutes. When the heat cleared, she and the fuzz ball were gone.


	4. Chapter 4

I turned my attention back to her friends and found them through my scope just as they were snatched up into a trap laid by the fuzz balls. The whole bundle, men, wookie and droids were all caught up in a net and suspended helpless as the fuzz balls closed in around them. I laughed and turned my attention elsewhere. To their other comrades. The soldiers from their party were scouting out the forest while their companions were being captured by the local monsters. The little group had ten members. They were trained elites and it was clear they had had military experience. I lined up a shot on one of them between the trees. He was looking around the woods, taking in the sights. I closed one eye, took a death breath and squeezed the trigger. The blaster rifle erupted and my blast shot soared through the air. It passed trees and cut through leaves, even one small tree before it struck its target. He dropped and within the hour, his heat signals would disappear. I zoomed out and located the remaining group. They had taken cover behind thick trees, rocks and logs. They had seen combat before. They knew how to deal with a sniper. Most rebels weren't this experienced. I knew that if they could help it, it would be impossible for me to hit them again.

Then as if by a stroke of luck, one, who appeared to have been the impromptu leader, waved his hand to signal one of his men to stay back. One of the rebel scum must have decided that his cover wasn't good enough so he was moving to a new position. I found him quickly in my crosshairs then moved two or three trees in front of him and fired again. The shot flew fast and took only a second to hit its target. He ran right into the blast and his body crumpled on the forest floor. That was two. Then the rebel party spotted something that would ruin my plans. They made for a large hill nearly a hundred yards away. I lined up a shot, including the lead, and fired. My target dropped. I lined up once more and fired. This time, the scum managed to dodge my shot and made it to the hill in safety. It was large enough that I couldn't see their heat signatures anymore. It was clear that they planned to stay there for the night.

I turned off my scope and made myself comfortable. I had a small dinner in the dark then listened to the sound of birds and creatures moving about in the forest around me as I drifted into sleep. The next morning, I awoke to the sound of birds fleeing from the forest at the sound of an AT-ST firing on fuzz balls. There was a battle at the back entrance to the shield bunker. I grabbed my rifle, lied down on my chest and zoomed in to see what I could do to help. It was clear that the fuzz balls had joined the rebel scum and that full war had been declared on them. I shot two or three of them without remorse then began scanning the woods to see if I could find anymore targets. I watched as blaster fire ripped the trees and fuzz balls ran in terror from the might of our Empire. A few of the little monsters fought back, pelting our men with rocks and spears and managed to hurt and kill a few of our good soldiers, but we were clearly winning.

Then I noticed a fuzz ball soaring above the cockpit of our AT-ST's dropping stones on them from above. It was a difficult shot, but I managed to place a blast directly into one of his wings, sending him spiraling towards the forest floor. I don't know what happened to him after the fall, I had to find new targets. I killed a few more of the fur brains before I witnessed the unspeakable. The battle started to turn. The wookie commandeered one of our walkers and used it to kill one or two of our own. The fuzz balls released the massive suspended logs to come crashing down and smash the cockpit of one of our walkers. They led another walked into the path of logs they rolled down a hill to trip it. Our armor forces were disabled.

I turned my attention back to the bunker entrance. I could only see the right side of the door since it was turned away from me, but I saw that stupid blue and white astromech droid trying to splice its way into our bunker. I zoomed in and fired a blast at it. The shot was enough to short circuit it and sent it flying back against the opposite wall with sparks and electricity shooting out it at every opening. I smiled within my helmet at thwarting the rebel scheme.


	5. Chapter 5

A few minutes later, a few Stormtroopers fired a shot or two at the bunker door and approached it with weapons raised. Apparently, they wounded one of the scum defending the door. Seconds later, blaster fire from the door and the Stormtroopers fell to the ground. Just then, an AT-ST approached and aimed down at the door. I saw Han Solo step forward from the door with his hands slowly raising into the air in surrender. Then the hatch on the walker opened and the wookie emerged.

I could see now that the battle for the Empire was lost. Our walkers had fallen and we were too far removed from reinforcements. Especially with the fleet engaged in combat with the rebels above. I held my fire and watched as they lured out my comrades from the bunker and went inside to plant charges. Then minutes later Han Solo came running from the bunker as fast as he could just as it exploded behind him. Then the shield generator itself went up in a massive blazing explosion that set fire to a quarter of the forest on that side of the moon.

Things began to calm down after the explosion on the moon. They disgusting fur balls killed the rest of my allies who were scattered through the forest and took their helmets to use as drums. I felt my heart filling with rage as I watched, but there was nothing I could do. If I tried to fight now, it would only reveal my position, and I'm far too professional than to give myself up in a losing fight. I decided I would wait for a while and see the scum decided to do.

The sun was setting on the forest moon when my worst horrors were realized. In the sky above me, I could see the mighty Imperial fleet battling the pathetic rebel force that was gathered before the invincible Death Star. Then suddenly, the Death Star exploded, sending fireballs in every direction. I stared at the sky in disbelief of what I was seeing. It couldn't be possible. That would mean that the Emperor was dead and that our glorious Empire would crumble. I knew that the Admirals would try to make a stand, but without the Emperor to keep everyone together and focused, all our power would soon fade away. I won't lie, a tear or two fell down my face before I could stop them. My entire life just . . . changed. I was no longer on the winning side. The stupid rebel scum had won. Now I had to make a choice, go and try to fight for the falling Empire, or try to join the rebels. I figured they would probably kill me on sight, but it was worth a shot.

I climbed down from my tree and mounted my speeder bike. I zipped through the forest at blinding speeds and moments later, I reached the fur ball village in the trees where the rebel victors were celebrating. A couple of rebel soldiers spotted me and approached with blasters drawn. I held my hands up in surrender, "I come in peace. You win. I wish to join you and celebrate alongside you." I expected them to fire on me without a word, so I hung my head in defeat. But instead of shooting me, they patted my shoulder and welcomed me to their merry band. I took off my helmet and set it down on one of the fuzz ball's helmet drum-sets and watched as they danced and rejoiced. Several of the rebel leaders were present, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo, his wookie slave, and even the traitor Lando Calrissian. As a scout sniper, I would call this my birthday present come early, but as a rebel, I had to call it an honor. I was even introduced to many of the rebel legendary members as the party wore on and made my new home among the new rulers of the Galaxy.

There's one thing I've learned in all my years of being a sniper in the Imperial army, and that is, no matter who's in charge, there's always a need for grunts like me. Generals win wars, but it's us soldiers who have to fight them.


End file.
